Blog "Catch-up" Post . . . . 3 months worth

I'm not sure what happened with my posting, but I am definitely behind.  I'm not even sure anyone looks at it anymore, since we are back Stateside, but I will post anyway.  I'm going to have to dig back into my memory banks  - all the way to September to catch up.  I believe my last posting was of Brenna's cross-country season - she ended up really enjoying running and her 2 new coaches!  She is just returning from a short off-season run (WOW!) in preparation for the upcoming track season. Morgan had a busy fall with volleyball (in addition to cheer and gymnastics).  Despite another losing season - our girls grew by leaps and bounds throughout the season!  We expect great things next year!

The next crazy thing that happened in our household is that Brenna has started driver's training!  She has her learner's permit and is in the process of working on her skills behind the wheel.  Unfortunately, we aren't getting her driving often enough, and she seems to forget things in between times!!  YIKES!  Actually, she does a pretty good job and will most likely be getting her license sometime in the March time frame after she turns 16!  Can you believe that??

During the fall season - October time frame, Dan got to take two different trips:  one to Notre Dame with Brenna - super fun and exciting trip - especially because our Irish are doing so well this season - here's to the Champions!!  GO Notre Dame!!  They met up with cousins Hannah and Zach (Leslie and Sam too) for a wet, but fun weekend visit to this little oasis in Indiana.  (Keep your fingers crossed that we will have another Irish alumni in the family . . . . in the not so far off future).

The second fun trip Dan took was with our friend (and Amelia's Godfather) with Morgan and Sydney to Yosemite!  They had beautiful weather and the girls were champion hikers making it all the way to Yosemite point!!  What a great experience for them!  Yosemite is still one of our favorite places on this beautiful earth!  I can't wait to go there next year with my new camera (now that I have figured out how to use it)

 Halloween came in with a bang and Amelia discovered her love of CANDY!  Unfortunately, I was having difficulties with my new camera and most of the pictures turned out blurry from this event.  Oh well, you can get the general idea of how our night was!  Amelia was a zebra, Sydney a cowgirl, and Morgan was "Thing 2" along with her friend Linzie who was "Thing 1"  Brenna and her friend Riley handed out candy and greeted the goblins who came knocking!

November was exciting - we decided to take our first long road trip with Amelia and Oki!  We drove to Montana to celebrate Thanksgiving and an early Christmas with our Montana family!  It was my bright idea to drive through the night to get miles under our belt while Amelia was sleeping - and for the most part it worked out well.  We didn't anticipate how difficult it was to pull an all-nighter, but we arrived safe and sound 18 hours later.  Our time in Montana always seems to fly by, once we are there, but we had good times with our family and it was great being home.  Sydney celebrated her 10th birthday while we were there, too!  She was able to have 2 parties - one with family and one with friends!  Grandma and grandpa surprised her with a pool party at the Heritage Inn which included a sleepover with grandma and the girls!  This was a remake from many years ago - I think fun was had by all!  In the pictures, you will see her biggest surprise - she got her ears pierced!!  So now everyone except Amelia has holes in their ears!  On a side note, Oki did a fabulous job on this trip and we look forward to being able to take him on all of our vacations, when possible.

 Tradition of the Cousin Dog Pile - lots of giggles and laughter putting this together!

 Remake of the Grandma Hotel Sleepover!

All done!

Friend Birthday Party back in Vacaville - makeovers and dancing!

Well, I guess I am up to my current pictures!  We had a very quiet and nice Christmas here in Vacaville this year!  Grandma Barbie has been with us, and we are enjoying our time with her.  We have been cooking loads of food:  prime rib, ham, fried chicken, pot roasts, meatloaf, minestrone soup - you name it!  Spoiled Rotten!  Christmas was very nice and Santa was good to all of the kids - and adults too!  We were able to slip away to another one of our favorite California destinations - Monterey - for a few days - it was beautiful on the coast!  Love that ocean! 

That wraps up 2012!  Happy New Year to all of you and best wishes in 2013!!